The Housing Office receives two types of bills that are billed back to your Bursar account. We receive gas bills from the Southern California Gas Company on a monthly basis and electricity bills from the City of Pasadena every other month. Please note that power/heating in the North Catalina apartments is strictly electric. These units are not billed for gas and the electric bills tend to be slightly higher than the Central and South Catalinas. We also receive bills from the City of Pasadena for trash and water but do not bill back as these are included in your rent.
All bills are entered into our database before the charges are sent to the Bursar's Office. The billing cycles from the Gas Company and from the City of Pasadena may vary from month to month. For example, the Gas Company billing cycles can run from January 22 to February 22, then February 21 to March 19. While the number of days in the cycle may fluctuate (as do the actual days the bills close), you will never be billed twice for the same day. Additionally, not all bills are on the same billing cycle. One unit might be billed for gas during a certain period while another may not be billed until the following month.
Each apartment has its own meter for gas and/or electricity usage. For the Graduate Lottery contract the number of roommates in the apartment during the billing cycle designates how the bill will be split up. For instance, if we receive a gas bill for $200.00 and there are four roommates residing in that apartment during that entire billing cycle, each roommate will be billed $50.00. It is always split evenly and we always chargeback the exact amount from the Gas Company and the City of Pasadena. If a roommate moves out of an apartment during the middle of a billing cycle, the system pro-rates the utilities for that student and the remainder is split evenly amongst the other residents.
Due to the varying billing cycles, it takes time to receive, process and charge utility bills. You may see utility charges after moving out of Caltech Housing. For example, a resident who departs in December will still see utility charges on their February or March Bursar bill.
Additionally, our system recognizes contract dates instead of individual residents. If a contract starts or stops in the middle of a billing cycle, the system will split one bill into two separate line items. This is usually noticeable at the beginning or end of the Housing contract/lease if you stay in one location for longer than one contract/lease period. Or if you move locations during a billing period. For example, a billing cycle that begins on August 21 and ends on September 20 will appear on your Bursar statement as two separate utility charges because of the housing contract/lease start date (Sept 1).
H173 Electricity (21-AUG-23 to 30-AUG-23)
H174 Electricity (01 SEP-23 to 20-SEP-23)
Registered residents may request to view their utility bills at any time. Please contact the Housing Office at 626-395-6176 or gradhousing@caltech.edu with any further questions.
